Wednesday, March 5, 2008

The Nooksack River at Vander Yacht Riverfront Park

After completing my normal dog walking gig - from Brownsville, through Tweed Twenty, down and around the Old Rail Road Trail and then back again, it was lunch at Ivars Seafood Bar and then on to Ferndale for the afternoon.

Driving into Fernale, once we crossed the bridge over the Nooksack River on Main Street we took a quick right turn. At first it looked as if we were turning into the car wash, but we drove on through until we reached a frontage road running along the Nooksack River. We drove under a low railroad overpass and on into the Vander Yacht Riverfront Park.

How pretty the branches of the leafless trees and the bright blue sky appear today!

Stopping for a short walk in the park and looking out across the river I spotted a beautiful bird perched on a snag near the opposite shore. The shiny contrast of white chest feathers against its black body in the sun caught my eye as we walked. Carefully stepping down a leaf-covered trail leading to the sandbar beach, the bird stayed long enough to identify. It was a Cormorant. Once identified, spreading it wings, the Cormorant took off in a graceful flight up the river. A later Internet search for information on this bird told me there are 40 different species in the Cormorant family, several of which are common here in the Pacific Northwest along both our fresh and saltwater shores. The Cormorant spotted along the Nooksack River this afternoon was very similar in appearance to the one in this photo that I found on the Internet.

The slideshow of photo highlights from today's visit to the Vander Yacht Riverfront Park along the Nooksack River.